
1 Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,
Look upon a little child;
Pity my simplicity,
Suffer me to come to Thee.
2 Lamb of God, I look to Thee;
Thou shalt my example be:
Thou art gentle, meek and mild;
Thou wast once a little child.
3 Fain I would be as Thou art;
Give me Thine obedient heart:
Thou art pitiful and kind;
Let me have Thy loving mind.
4 Loving Jesus, gentle Lamb,
In Thy gracious hands I am;
Make me, Saviour, what Thou art,
Live Thyself within my heart.
Amen.
Source: Worship and Service Hymnal: For Church, School, and Home #487
First Line: | Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, Look upon a little child |
Title: | Gentle Jesus |
Author: | Charles Wesley |
Meter: | 7.7.7.7 |
Place of Origin: | United Kingdom |
Language: | English |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
Gentle Jesus, meek and mild. C. Wesley. [A Child's Prayer.] First published in Hymns & Sacred Poems, 1742; and again in Hymns for Children, 1763, in 7 stanzas of 4 lines. Following it is another hymn, marked pt. ii, and beginning, "Lamb of God, I look to Thee," also in 7 stanzas of 4 lines, thus accounting for the statement sometimes made that the original is in 14 stanzas. Centos from both parts are found in most collections for children in English-speaking countries, and are exceedingly popular with the young. The construction of each cento may be traced by a reference to the original text in Poetical Works, 1868-72, vol. vi. p. 441, No. 336. "Lamb of God," &c, in the Methodist Sunday School Hymn Book, 1879, is entirely from pt. ii., whilst "Gentle Jesus, meek and mild," is compiled from both.
Other arrangements are:—
(1) “Loving Jesus, gentle Lamb," in the American Methodist Episcopal Hymns, 1849; and (2) "Holy Jesus, Saviour mild," in the Bonchurch Hymn Book, 1868.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)